Liberty Global expands Horizon video-sharing service to more countries

Liberty Global Inc., the European cable TV giant controlled by John Malone, is offering its new Horizon set-top box that lets viewers share video widely across TVs, tablets and other devices.

The Douglas County-based company (Nasdaq: LBTYA) on Friday announced that the device, introduced broadly this summer in its UPC Netherlands subsidiary, will be available to subscribers in Switzerland, Ireland and Germany — the largest market for Liberty Global (LGI) — during the next three to six months.

LGI has about 10.8 million subscribing households in the countries where Horizon will be offered, slightly more than half of the cable company’s total customers base.

The LGI-designed Horizon box is manufactured by Samsung. It includes features to help viewers find and stream Internet content on a TV, navigate cable TV video, and send any of that content to tablet computers and other devices around the home.

“Finally, you can enjoy the best cable TV programming on all of your devices whenever and wherever you choose,” said Mike Fries, LGI president and CEO, said in a statement. “Horizon TV brings the power of the internet and the most popular apps to your TV screen and allows you to ‘connect, discover and be free.’”

The company started testing Horizon last year among UPC Netherlands subscribers. Fries predicted it would give LGI a technological lead among European TV companies, and put LGI ahead of what U.S. cable operators offer.

Liberty Global employs more than 20,000 people. It operates in 14 countries, most of them in Europe, and serves 19.6 million customers. About 120 people work at its headquarters.